Monthly Archives: October 2010

Being compared to legendary indie acts such as Bob Dylan and The Smiths, Belle and Sebastian have made a name for themselves in one very competitive music industry. In 1996 the indie music industry was blowing up in the UK, and one band in particular was on top. Oasis had just released their third album and it was the fastest selling album in the UK chart history. How would a band come out of the woodworks at a time where a band was dominating the UK music industry? Belle and Sebastian managed to come out of Oasis’s shadow with one song that defined the bands name and sound.
In 1996 Belle and Sebastian formed over in Glasgow. Current member, Stuart Murdoch, and past member, Stuart David, came together and decided to record some demos at Stow College. The recorded these demos with professor Alan Rankine. The college had a label itself called Electric Honey. The label usually only produced one single a year, however with the talent the boys showed they recorded the debut album, Tigermilk.
The band had become so popular it was time to recruit some new members, and so both Stuart’s did. Stevie Jackson (guitar and vocals), Isobel Campbell (cello/vocals), Chris Geddes (keys) and Richard Colburn (drums), Sarah Martin (violin/vocals) were recruited as members of Belle and Sebastian. With the new members all settled in, the band preceded to make a sophomore album known as, If Your’re Falling Sinister. Spin magazine had even labeled it was one of the 100 greatest albums with the time periods 1985 to 2005. The growing success of the band even led them to sign with Jeepster Records. The band followed their sophomore album with two EPs: Lazy Line Painter Jane and 3..6..9 Seconds of Light. The band would release albums and EPs from 1996 to present never disappointing.
Belle and Sebastian are now back at it again performing live since almost four years ago. They just dropped their eighth studio album which is titled “Belle and Sebastian Write About Love.” “I Want the World to Stop” is a timeless indie song. The melodic tones when the chorus comes together is easily stuck in your head for days to follow. Having female and male vocalist on such tracks such as “I Didn’t See It Coming” and “Write About Love” adds a unique touch to album the album, and they can undoubtably be labeled as a “feel good” song. Unlike a typical indie band, Belle and Sebastian also use many instruments in there song. They of coarse have the typical guitar, bass, and drums, but they also have violin, keys, and cello. Those fine touches add to this bands unique sound.
Belle and Sebastian are filled with such great passion, and one can tell that they put that passion in to each and every song. There newest album Belle and Sebastian Write About Love is a cd you should consider picking off the shelf next time you at the record store.

I have great difficulty characterizing concerts. They are composed of the quality of music, the band and the crowd. That’s a given. But, concerts can be phenomenal for a singular reason, possibly a gag (like balloons or feathers) or a beautiful person (there are tons of those at concerts), not necessarily a combination of those three factors. Last night, the Matt and Kim concert was amazing not because of their unique music or the insane crowd, but due to the band’s energy.

Kim, with the widest, goofiest smile on her face, hopped around the stage when she was not beating her drums vigorously. She occasionally stood on the drums, ever-raising the audience’s energy level. The variety of their songs did not matter, everyone just ate it all up with smiles on their faces the whole time. However repetitive the songs may have seemed – you can’t expect too much diversity from only a synthesizer keyboard and drum set – the duo threw in a few exciting covers, like Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” and Major Lazer’s “Pon De Floor” which featured Kim wildly shaking her booty.
Finally, Matt announced that he was playing the last ‘thong’ (since apparently that’s what he slipped and said at a concert in Louisiana where he got too man thongs thrown on stage). He prefaced it by saying that this is a song that you should listen to if you ever need to cheer up, and that’s all I could think of while dancing to it.

I also have a tendency to go unprepared to concerts, either bringing the wrong shoes or too much stuff. By now I should be an expert, only wearing sneakers and bringing a cell phone and wallet. This concert was a point in case of my stupidity. At the Passion Pit concert, I lost my bag; at the Against Me! concert I lost my shoes. Now, I somehow held onto both but wasn’t as able to fully enjoy the constant motion of the crowd. My huge purse hung around my neck as I pushed and was shoved around. I had just gotten acrylic nails for the first time, and was so afraid of breaking a nail. As girly as that may sound, my alternative was to protect my nails and fist pump throughout the concert. Somehow no one was bothered by my Jersey Shore-like habits since they all were in their own realm of joy.

This was a happy concert. You could just lose yourself in the high energy and strong beat. I was happy as a lark (singing causes dopamine release in birds, surprisingly). So, I highly suggest that even if you may think all their songs sound the same, they are worth seeing for whatever price even if the concert was only $15. I left less stressed and sporting everybody’s sweat, not only mine, but also sporting a big, albeit exhausted, smile.

I thought this was a pretty much good CD. If you like hard rock I recommend it. Although there are a few songs that sound alike there are also some that are completely different. I think its good to show a different side to your music. Your not always going to have a good day and you cant always be happy, and this CD shows that in many of the songs. I would say that the top songs would be Dumb Luck, Fire Rising, and Dejavu.
Dumb Luck gives a good lively feeling; also this song had a nice beat. Fire Rising is one of those different songs. It is slower and more unique. Dejavu is a great song! As cool as its name is, it has one of best beginnings. I would totally recommend Dying for a Living.